Jinju Fortress

I spent my first week back in Korea lazing around, trying to let my body and wallet recover from Thailand (and my heart recover from a tragic loss to the Niners.) When Saturday finally came around, I felt like I needed to get out and do something, so I hopped on a bus to Jinju on a whim to explore Jinju Fortress.

Baaaasically, this place is a historical park that features statues, monuments, and a museum all dedicated to retelling the story of how Korea valiantly and bravely stifled and fended off several Japanese attacks on Jinju.

The park is a gorgeous scenic place to visit and is located right along a river that flows all through Jinju.

So many pretty trees! (You'll see in the pictures below. I'd almost like to come back to this place once Winter lets go of its vice grip on our collective balls to see what the place looks like when it's more green.

Chokseongnu Pavilion is regarded as one of the cultural symbols of all of Jinju and one of two landmark pavilions in all of Korea. It is the inspiration for countless poems and paintings. It's over 800 years old, although the original building was destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1592. The building that currently stands was built in 1960 with money raised by the Jinju Historic Sites Preservation Assocation. It was used as a command post during times of war and "a favourite leisure venue among the literati elites during times of peace."

One of many shots I took of the river. This one, from atop Chokseongnu.

This is a shrine to Non-Gae, a gisaeng ("professional entertainer). This badass woman seduced a Japanese commander and lured him on to Ui-am Rock, where she then plunged herself into the water, dragging his ass along with her. She embraced him, thinking of all of the lives lost during the Japanese invasion, and jumped to her death. Visitors to the shrine can sign a guestbook and leave a little message for the beautiful Non-Gae. 

This monument was built in honour of General Je Mai and his nephew, General  Je Hong-rok. They put together a volunteer army during Japan's invasion and led the army to several victories in battle.

I'd tell you what I wished for, but then I'll never marry Emily Haines.

I saw these gents at Daewangam Park!

If it wasn't Winter, you'd be staring at a beautiful water fountain. Stoopid Winter.

A terrible picture, with the red pole blocking the shot, but quickly snapped this one to show the old man doing push-ups against the wall. He was not the only one doing so. I'm sure Koreans must live to be 134.

Seojangdae was a general's command post on the west gate of the Jinju Fortress Wall. "If the Wall should ever fall, all fires will go out."

I've lost track; I think this is temple #239 I've seen since coming to Korea.

Pretty tree!

The entrance to Changyeolsa Shrine, which commemorates the brave soldiers, as well as their leader and commanders who fought during the Second Jinju Battle in 1593.

I believe the tablets in the back bear the names of the fallen soldiers.

As I sat, putting on my shoes, two gentlemen came up to me with faces that I couldn't quite read. For some reason, my initial thought was that perhaps they came to kick me out; perhaps this was sacred ground, which is why there weren't any other people around. I got scurrd. Then they started speaking in Korean, and I just shrugged and said, "English?" More Korean. But then I heard the word "England" and I figured they were trying to ask where I was from, so I said Canada and all of a sudden their faces lit up, while I allowed myself to breathe again. They continued speaking, while I simply nodded and smiled. If I had to guess as to what they were going on about, I think they were surprised to see a foreigner there. I didn't see a single non-Korean during my entire time in the park, and I noticed I was getting stares the whole afternoon. This doesn't really happen to me in Ulsan, so I'm thinking that they were happy to see a foreigner take interest in their nation's history. I could be totally wrong, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I'm a total tree hugger.

This is where the army leader would gather his men and give his Braveheart speech.

After wandering around outside, I finally made my way to the museum. As soon as I walked in the door, I noticed people strolling into a room to my left, so I went to check it out. It turned out to be a small auditorium for about 50 people. My first thought was, "Well, it probably won't be in English, nor will it have subtitles, so I'll pass." Then I noticed the 3D glasses. "Are we going to watch a 3D war movie?! Only one way to find out."

The computer graphics weren't mind-blowing, but it was still entertaining. It was like watching the unveiling of a new video game called Assassin's Creed: Jinju Fortress.

Not having subtitles actually made if more fun because I got to add my own dialogue in my head. The movie starts off with a Japanese attack on the water. The defenseless Korean fleet was slaughtered.

From there, the Korean army is led by their heroic leader and they successfully hold off several Japanese attacks. Then the unthinkable happens. As the general stands looking over the dead bodies scattered all around him, one Japanese soldier lying close to death on the floor uses his last strength to fire one off and nail the general in the head from behind. He didn't even see it coming.

But the troops rally together in their leader's honour and kick the crap out of the Japanese army until they run off with their tails between their legs.

It wasn't the greatest war epic, but it sure as hell beat Pearl Harbour.

Evil Monkey? This thing stood outside of the museum.

Homer Simpson was wrong; "de fault" are not the two sweetest words in the English language.

Jinju National Museum

Done and done. This sign was lying on the steps as I walked to the top of the monument.

When I got to the top, I understood what the sign meant. This overwhelming sense of serenity washed over me when I got to the top--like I could feel the presence of each and every one of those soldiers. It felt like a holy and sacred place

Day 7: Ayutthaya and the night I was mounted by a Thai woman

I knew I wanted to spend our last full day in Thailand exploring the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya. Mike was once again not keen on the idea, so he did his own thing for the day. Our roommate Brian had gone to Ayutthaya earlier in the week, and told me that he had a great time roaming the city on a rented bike, so I was excited to try that myself.

I hopped on a train and arrived in the city two hours later, looking for either a bike rental shop or a taxi. I found a map and asked a tuk tuk driver to take me to the ruins. He took me to Wat Maha That, one of the signature temples, and conveniently enough, the bike rental vendor was right across the street. It came with a pretty little basket to put my goodies in and a lock and key. I was ready to roll.

I'm glad I didn't end up booking an expensive package tour for the day, because riding a bike sounded so much more fun. Besides, the marquee temples offered very informative audio guides detailing the history and the rise and fall of the Ayutthaya kingdom, as well as a description of each of the significant buildings on the temple grounds.  

 

After Maha That, I hopped back on my badass ride, which I named Roxanne, and made off in search of the next sight to check out. I kept hearing my mom's voice ringing in my head as I peddled along: "Vamonos! Vamonos!" This translates to "Let's go, let's go! Hurry the fuck up!" It's her mantra when the fam goes on vacation. She's always in a rush to do and see everything. Being my mother's son, I felt the same way looking at the city map. There was a lot of ground to cover, and I wanted to make sure I saw everything before I had to get back and meet Mike at 6:00.

The darnedest thing happened, though. Biking down the sidewalk, I glanced to my left and saw this beautiful site. I just had to stop. I took some sexy pictures of Roxanne and threw away the map. It was going to be just me and Roxanne for the afternoon.

The highlight of the day--perhaps the highlight of the entire trip--was this one beautiful moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I found myself biking down the street whilst holding a delicious chocolate Popsicle to fight off the horrendous heat, and I just had to laugh. To my left was a picturesque scene of old ruins, with an open grass area and a small lake in the foreground; on my right, there was a line of three elephants strolling down the street. I felt like I was in a Salvador Dali painting or something.

The train ride back was gross and steamy. I felt my arm pit hairs curl. It was so hot the lady standing next to me collapsed at one point. People around her promptly picked her up, put some smelling salts under her nose, which everybody seemed to have at the ready, which makes me think that this crap happens all the time, and put her in a seat. Scary stuff.

I was about half an hour late to meet up with Mike. The plan was to catch a Muay Thai match, but due to time constraints, it didn't look like that was going to be possible. After getting some help from the friendliest and most honest cab driver in all of Bangkok, we decided to just head back to Khao San one more time to say our proper goodbyes.

I don't even remember what meal I had, which probably means it wasn't anything spectacular, but I savoured every last drop of my beloved Chang.

We ate across the street from a place that offered feet, back/shoulders, and Thai massages. The feet massages were done right on the sidewalk, while the rest of them were done inside. After a day of biking around under the merciless sun, I was ready for a massage, and I opted for a back and shoulder massage, while Mike got a feet massage.

I went inside, lay on a small bed on my stomach, and this tiny lady proceeded to crawl on top of me like a friggin' human spider. It was like I was her wrestling practice dummy. There were dropped elbows, stretches, sleeper holds, a body slam. She made me her bitch, and it hurt so good.

I didn't want it to end, but sadly it did. As did our vacation. Sigh...

I'd like to say one last thing about Thailand, though. A lot of the people I talked to made the taxi and tuk tuk drivers out to be money hungry scumbags, but the majority of them were fine. Rule of thumb: If they offer a flat rate as opposed to the metre, just walk away. That's all.

Good night!